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« A policeman's lot is not a happy one | Main | Patrick (and Kagan) to DC? » Wednesday, July 18, 2007Tintin in AmericaThe news -- reported by Publishers Weekly yesterday, among other places -- that the children's graphic novel "Tintin in the Congo" will be published in English, and in the US, this fall has sent a shockwave through the blogosphere.  First published in 1930-31 in the children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle, then updated and colorized in 1946, with additional changes in 1975, Herge's story about the intrepid boy reporter Tintin's adventures in the Belgian Congo is racist and colonialist -- there's no question about it. The black Africans are childlike, quick to worship Tintin, and helpless without his aid. But like Hugh Lofting's racist and colonialist "Doctor Dolittle" series, which first appeared in the 1920s, "Tintin in the Congo" is also exciting, funny, and charming. So what to do with a book like this?  Though it wasn't translated into English, "Tintin au Congo" was in print in the 1970s in England, where my father -- whose antiracist credentials are impeccable -- bought it for me. He used it as a teaching tool about racism, and I've done the same thing with my children. (The book was published by the indie press Last Gasp in 2002.) Now, thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, the book will be widely available in the US, in English. According to Publishers Weekly, Borders stores in the US will stock "Tintin in the Congo" in an adult-oriented section of the store -- the graphic novels section -- because of material the retailer says "could be considered offensive by some of our customers." (This is mealy-mouthed: Anyone who does not consider the racist aspects of the book offensive is deluded! But I support Borders' decision to shelve the book outside of the children's section.) Little, Brown acknowledges that the book "may be considered somewhat controversial as it reflects the colonial attitudes of the time it was created." A belly band expressing this sentiment will be wrapped around US editions of the book; there will also be an explanatory preface in the new edition. Soft Skull Press will soon publish "Tintin and the Secret of Literature," a book-length analysis of the Tintin oeuvre by Tom McCarthy. On their blog yesterday, publisher Richard Nash offered an excerpt from the book looking at the right-wing origins of the strip. Posted by Joshua Glenn at 08:27 AM
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